Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

Hyperion offers both CDs, and downloads in a number of formats. The site is also available in several languages.

Please use the dropdown buttons to set your preferred options, or use the checkbox to accept the defaults.

Don't show me this message again

Hernando Franco

born: 1532

died: 28 November 1585

country: Spain

The first really notable maestro de capilla in Mexico was Hernando Franco. He was born in Spain in 1532, near Alcántara in Extremadura, the land of the conquistadores. As a boy chorister he served at Segovia Cathedral in Old Castile; there he met the brothers de Álamo who were to lead him first to Guatemala and then to Mexico City. Franco certainly was at Guatemala in 1573 and he spent his last ten years from 1575 as maestro at the new and incomplete Mexico City Cathedral. Some of Franco’s music is still to be found in Guatemala but his cycle of Magnificats (fourteen out of sixteen survive) and many other works are found in Mexico and Puebla together with his two settings of Salve regina.